I’m guilty. I do it all the time. I need to stop, and I would appreciate it if you did so as well. We need to stop talking and start doing. Now, I’m going to limit this to photography, but I could easily broaden my target here, because I know that many of you slovenly, lazy, trash-talking losers, whom I love so much, are just like me. I am all of these things. (I love talking trash, and I might have lint in my belly button.) It might seem like I do a lot, but I don’t. As a human, I’m a lot like my wife’s running style. Lots and lots of movement in all directions, but little forward progress. I love watching her attempt to run. I always look and think, “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, do I look like that when I run?” (She tries, and that’s all that matters.)
This is the Information Age.
Whatever that means. By my estimation, the majority of “information” I see is complete and total horseshit, but there seems to be no end to it. I had a conversation with someone about this very thing, not more than a few days ago. We spoke about news sources, and which ones were our favorites. In the words of Rambo, John J., “There are no friendly civilians.” Sources are like chocolate doughnuts; you always want more than one. We then spoke about how I ingest stories. I spoke about “short news” sites like The Guardian, or Reuters, and then moved on to “long news” sites like The Atlantic or The New Yorker, but I professed I was willing to wait, which makes me a book guy. I always wait for the book, long after the attention-deprived masses have moved on. I like to sift through the rubble of history, alone, water running low, sun high in the sky, and vultures circling for a last meal. Just me and the story, left alone to assemble the parts, hoping there’s nothing left over at the end.
We talk about photography way too much. It’s that simple.
Yesterday, someone sent me a link to a YouTube film about YouTube photographers talking about photography. All I said was, “No,” and deleted the link. Go shoot. Go use the camera you’ve been talking about for the last six months. Go use it before you start talking about the next camera for the next six months. YouTube in particular is a minefield for those new to the field. It ruins people by providing a paper-thin foundation of diluted information that won’t help you get better. YOU must help YOU get better, and that will ONLY come from practice.
Talk, talk, talk, go to shows, go to festivals, watch YouTube films, read reviews, post on social, scroll on social, buy a book from a famous photographer you found out about on YouTube. Are these things evil? No, but. Again, if you want to play photographer, sure. Dress up like a 1980s photojournalist, buy an off-camera cord, and smoke French cigarettes in the park with others playing the same charade, but if you want to BE a photographer, this WILL NOT WORK. And I don’t mean “be a photographer,” as working full-time as your career. I just mean if you want to get good, or if you want to make intentional work with meaning, then you must stop pretending and you need to start working.
I’m driving this bus, so I might as well throw myself under it once again. I’ve been guilty of all these things. Thankfully, I feel like I’m not as guilty as I used to be, but I’m also older, which means I realize I’m on a clock and I sure as shit know what it takes to make good work. And not just my own. I’ve been working intimately with photographers since 1988. (In 1988, I spent a day with photographer Andy King, who blew my mind about thirty times that day, and showed me within a minute how little I knew about photography.) I’ve seen what it takes to make good work in fashion, portraiture, photojournalism, automotive, travel, stock, and most other genres. I’ve sat and talked with the best of the best. They are driven and focused in ways that go far beyond the norm. They work harder than we do. None of these people pay attention to the online noise. None of these people is influenced by influencers. They are too busy working, getting jobs, billing, marketing, and learning what to do next.
This period in our history, this blowhard, fake it till you make it period, filled with snakeoil salespeople, and YouTubers turned wellness gurus , is mostly a waste of time and energy. I keep wanting to reach out and say, “Show me.” “Show me the work.” Stop talking and show me what you made. I think one of the most significant challenges for people now is that photography is often best as a solitary pursuit. You might be photographing groups of people, but internally you are alone. We now have generations of “creatives” who have never produced anything for themselves or on their own. They are driven by audience. That’s it. Build following at all costs. This is why so much of what we see is soulless drivel consumed by hordes of lost people with no real drive to do much of anything besides consume more drivel.
You can sit around a table talking about photography, talking about what you are going to do, but until you do it, it’s just talk. Those of you with means and time, I’m especially talking to you. If you read yesterday’s post, you will know I am potentially setting myself up to come dangerously close to doing what I’m telling you to stop doing, but I do have something in my favor. I’ve already made images for the project. This is a microscopic foothold, but it exists.
Maybe this post is a result of my age. I know because I was there. I was there back when this noise didn’t exist, so perhaps this allows me to see through the noise in a way that others can’t. I didn’t have a say in this; it’s a reality based on my parents getting frisky and low infant mortality rates. If you came to “photography” five years ago, well, how on Earth would you know what’s real and what’s not? Someone has the following, and gee, I guess that means this person knows what they are talking about. I guess YouTube is a great way to learn a craft. I guess, I guess, I guess.
Here is my hope. I hope you hear the voices. The ones inside your head. We’ve been led to believe these voices are bad, potentially a sign of impending mental health doom. I don’t believe this. I believe these voices hold the key to our future. I look at those new to photography, and I feel a bit of pity because you’ve come at a strange, strange time. A time of The Great Facade. A time of phoniness. Think about the college graduates coming into a world with no more guarantees. No more path to follow. No clear sign you will come out on top. No house, no steady job, no long-term position of stability, and AI breathing down whatever neck you choose to stick out. This is a weird time, and in the words of Dr. Thompson, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” Photo-talkers are weird.
So my slacker friends and family, go shoot. That’s it. All this nonsense to get to that simple point. Just point the damn thing and press the button. Go do that for a few years and then come back. You don’t have to go monk in the process, but you gotta go through the process. After all, the process is supposed to be the fun part. The talking part is supposed to be the warmup, so let it be.
Comments 18
Thanks for this, you have a way of articulating my thoughts so accurately. I used to get students from the local college photography program interviewing me as someone in the industry(even that has faded away), asking me for advice and I always ended the way you end here: “I can guarantee you aren’t shooting enough!”
Author
In my college photography program, you could graduate having touched your camera about a dozen times. Were there people who did that? Yes, of course. Tourists. Photo tourists to be more specific. “Hey, this is cool and fun, but I’m not going anywhere with it after the degree.” And then there were others who were all in.
I used to have a quote on my wall, probably erroneously attribute to Jimi Hendrix, that said, “Less digging an more doing.” I constantly battle with a balance of watching one more video about a famous photographer or editing tricks and going out and taking pictures. Or, more recently, doing the work of going through the pictures I have and figuring out which ones express my voice the best. Onward and upward.
Author
The people who built these platforms are geniuses in knowing our pressure points. Whether that be IG or TT or FB or YT. They were built to exploit our vulnerabilities. And they do. It’s when this bullshit becomes the conversation where it gets dark, and it has become the conversation. The work itself has become an afterthought, but not for me.
Oh yes, nail… head… clean hit ! I’ve just come in from my nearby wine shop. french guy runs it. I said to him, “in another life, I’d do wine for a living.” he laughed and told me it’s a dying game. The ‘kids’ in France have stopped drinking wine. “what do they do,” I asked. “Scroll all day on zer forking phones” !…..
I think the pandemic showed folk another way of ‘living.’ It’s easy to be saturated and overwhelmed with photographs and photography. There’s a kind of “why bother’ feeling. What’s the point? I think you have to go further back than just going out to take pictures. The gratification of photography is short-lived. One advantage of shooting film is that is delivers a process. A process that allows for contemplation and negates instant gratification. The lure of you tube is so much easier than actually going out and shooting. Put in culinary terms, it’s the pot noodle instead of the long cooked beef daube.
Author
Yes, it’s FAR easier to watch than to do. Just look at how many people spend 6-8 hours per day scrolling social without posting. And when you ask them why on Earth they would doing that, day after day, for years at a time, they say silly things like, “Oh, I’m working,” or “I need to know what’s going on.” Prosumer photographers who are the ones supporting the YT craziness are doing the same. “Oh, I just need to know about this upcoming camera because I might need it,” but then admit they aren’t using the one they already have.
I discovered you, Dan, a long, long time ago. Never commented, never engaged—until now. I just followed you. I guess by now, it’s called stalking. Every time I want to write a sensible post on my website—you already have one. So I just say “shit” and keep stalking you.
I just want to say THANK YOU, MAN. For having the balls to do what’s right. For telling the truth and being straight to the point.
I’m not a social media guy—no facebook, no instagram, no crap. I get my hands dirty. Literally and figuratively. I’m not a photographer, but I do make images using cameras. I’ve got a tonne of microscopic personal projects to complete. I’ve failed so many times, you could plaster the entire Empire State Building with all the wasted paper, film, and ink.
I have so many ideas that I don’t have time to sleep. I don’t watch telly… I don’t even have one.
I go to Malta every year, sometimes a few times, spending money on doing my projects I’m never quite happy with, and I’ll never get paid for—and that’s the whole idea. People think I’m crazy because I’m not thinking ‘profit’, not chasing likes. Maybe they’re right.
But I’m happy.
I’m happy to live in a REAL, 3D world full of smells, wind, views, people, birds, cats, shit and so on.
Heidi Hetzer, the woman who drove around the world in her 100-year-old Opel, was once asked what it takes to go on a trip like that. She said, “Just move your arse.” Or something like it.
On the news–Mark Twain said, If you don’t read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed.
Enjoy shooting Dan!
Author
Hello Mr. Malta. Glad you took the time to write. Thank you. I think you and I are living in the same world. And the story about Hetzer is SO on point. I love that. I get so many questions about photography that can all be summed up with one reply. “Go shoot.” Most don’t.
Yes, go shoot. But try not to shoot shit that sucks. What sucks? The people that we admire are the gatekeepers.
Author
Kinda. For me, there aren’t many gatekeepers left. Their world died decades ago. They still live due to the insecurity of the masses who want to be told what to do. Build the world you want to live in. Most don’t.
Happy Friday Dan,
I’m on your bus ride as well, been doing better, but do find myself getting sucked into mindless YT video’s that are not really doing anything to help me get better at photography. I’m trying to break that cycle, I’m a work in progress.
Speaking of being a work in progress, how are you progressing in your watercolor painting travels? Let’s see some of that work. 🙂
Be well and stay safe.
Mike
Author
That’s what YT is designed for….to suck us in. As for my watercolor, ZERO. As for “art” sketches, letters, etc. I’ve made some progress but don’t have any of those with me. I’m on a three month trip, so pared down as much as possible.
Love this post, Dan! It reminds me of a clip from an interview I once saw with Ozzy Osbourne. The interviewer asked, “So what do you think of Justin Bieber?” and Ozzy replied, “Who the fuck is Justin Bieber?” The interviewer just smiled, nodded, and said, “Good answer!”
You don’t need to pay attention to the nonsense and noise going on around you. Focus on what you want to do—and become awesome, like Ozzy!
I’ve been carrying a camera with me every day for about 18 years, and not once have I ever called myself a photographer. I’ve been drawing and sketching my whole life, and not once have I said I’m an artist.
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That needs to be a t-shirt. Makes me SO happy.
Superb!
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Gracias!
Thank you! I’ve been mixed up with this photo talk. I tried to follow and participate conversation in Meta T, but couldn’t understand what was it all about. Lots about earning money, and how much you have to charge because price of equipment. And about how important is to have followers. I once did comment, that buy only what you need, and running full time photo business is so expensive that price of cameras is peanuts. Somehow I understand followers if you shoot portraits or weddings, but for commercial work it is the same have you zero or million followers.
Anyway, your writing put this thing on perspective, which I couldn’t figure out myself.
Author
Cameras are so unimportant when running a photography business. Once you settle on what you need, they become almost irrelevant. And none of your clients care. There was a time when they did, back in the early days of digital when a new camera could mean a huge jump in quality. There was a brief time when clients would dictate what camera they wanted, but that is mostly gone. And many of the best photographers rent their equipment.